Not that I’m necessarily an ‘Expert’ on Building Fantasy Worlds… But who knows, maybe I’ll be good at it.

As I approach January 1st, the Starting Date of Beginning to Write My Second of the “Plane Of Ordose” Trilogy Fantasy Novels, “Iliad” (The Sequel to “Chess With Agatha”, which I’m hoping to Self Publish in Jan-Feb), I find right from the start I have a Lot of Work ahead of me.

Now those of you that have been following my site know that I actually started “Iliad” back in July, 2012, right after the completion of the First Draft of “Chess With Agatha”. But then put it on hold for this coming January (A year from when I started the first book), and so have been Re-Posting what I wrote in July to catch my Readers up, for when I begin again come Jan 1st.

But enough of all that.

The Land; In “Chess With Agatha“, the majority of the book took place in what I’ve called “The Plane Of Ordose”… Though for this first book, I really only needed to Create a hand full of pieces of the land for the sake of the Story… As opposed to Creating a ‘Whole’ Land, and or World.

In fact I still need someone to Draw The Portions of the Map that I did use in the Story, for the Sake of Creating a Map for My Readers in that Book.

But in “Iliad” I Fear/Suspect that I will need much more of the Land to be Revealed, and/or Explained, or at least ‘Accessible’, meaning more of it may be used than in the first book.

This, I suspect, will be a Challenge.

My Experience In Building Lands; I’d have to say that any ‘Land’, or ‘World’ Building Experience that I might have, would be from when I used to be a Dungeon Master whilst playing Dungeons & Dragons.

Now granted, it’s been many years since I Ran a Dungeons & Dragons Game, but like I say, this, if any, is the only experience I have with Building Something like a Land, or World.

Draw A Map; Often the first thing I’d do when Creating a Continent, was Draw Out a Map… I’m not much of an Artist, but it was Functional Enough.

This will likely be what I need to do for “Iliad” as well.

Fill It With Inhabitants; The next thing I’d do, is fill the different areas (Be it Forest, Mountains, Hilly Areas) with Inhabitants.

Now Dungeons & Dragons had Charts that you could use for this, though I usually put Creatures where I wanted them… To a Degree. Though, often Forests might have Elves, and/or Wolves, and Mountains would often have Orcs, and/or Giants.

Then amongst these Inhabitants, I’d perhaps Create Leaders for several of the areas (Generally the Areas Where the Players Might Explore).

This, to a degree, will be something I do for My Book as well.

Creating/Determining Main Characters; Though before I get to deep into Inhabiting the Map/World/Land, I will want to determine what some of the Main Characters in the Story are going to be.

In “Chess With Agatha” the Main Characters Were/Are as Listed Below;

Agatha – Daughter of King Elias (The Father thing is a bit more complicated than this, but I don’t want to give it away for those that haven’t Read “Chess With Agatha” yet)

These are basically the ‘Main’ Characters in the Piece, though there are other Secondary Characters of course.

For Iliad So Far I have These;

Agatha – A year-ish older

Angly – You should Read the First Book to get a better idea who he is

Agamemnon – Same as in the First Book

King Elias – Same as in the First Book

The Villains –I shall not Disclose the Villains (Partially a Work in Progress)

That’s all I shall divulge at this point (Also partially a Work in Progress)

Once I Draw the Map, Develop the Main Characters, and Inhabit the Lands…

There also comes a less familiar area for me, which is ‘More Detailed’ Cultural Things… Such as Religions Etc.

I’m not exactly sure how much I will go into such things, but I do know that there will be more known about The “Plane Of Ordose” by the end of this 2nd Book, than there was by the end of the 1st Book.

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Well, that’s all for now, like I say, I have a lot of work ahead of me… But I am very much looking forward to the process, and hopefully after this particular book, World/Land Building might come a bit Easier to me in Future Books… Time shall tell.

I recently asked my Writers to do a Post about themselves, as Writers Etc….

And so I thought it’s only right that I should do one as well.

Some of you may be familiar with me, some may not…

My First Writing Effort was back when I was around the age of 11-ish… I was Writing a Fantasy Novel, which I never finished.

However, I did show some of it to my Dad at some point, who I did not live with, but would see from time to time… And after reading it, he said “You’re a Writer…”

And it really stuck with me.

Though I will admit, my Original Career/Dream Pursuit was that of a Film Maker… I quickly came to realize that I am also a Writer.

Backing even further back, My Original Dream was to be a Baseball Pitcher, lol

But growing up in a remote canyon home with my Mom, and my Brother, I just didn’t feel it would be possible for my Mom to get me to practices… Being a single Mom, and living in such a remote area.

And so I never bugged her about it… She says I only mentioned Baseball once to her as a child.

I’m not exactly a ‘Jock’… No, I’m more of a Dreamer… But something about Baseball, and in particular Pitching, came natural to me.

Anyway, after I gave that up, Film Making became my Dream, after seeing the First Two Original “Star Wars” Films…

I felt they had Great Story Scope, and Brilliant/Colorful Characters/Character Development.

But it wasn’t until I was 30 that I actually began my pursuit of Film Making…

And after a Few Years of that, which included getting a Short Film into a Film Festival in New York, some life situations lead to me setting Film Making aside.

Which is when I started focusing on Screenplay Writing.

Around the same time I Wrote, Directed, Produced, Edited and Acted in my 5 Minute Short Film, I also Wrote a Play, and a First Draft of a Screenplay, called “White Jade“.

I then sat the 80 Page First Draft down for a year, and picked it back up when I decided to pursue Screenplay Writing…

19+ Re-Writes later, I had what I felt was an accept able Draft, and sent out what are called ‘Query Letters’ to Agents, in the hopes of getting them to consider reading it, and if they liked it, to then become my Agent.

Now I only sent out maybe 5 Query Letters, so it wasn’t a full blown attempt… But it was at least a bit of an attempt.

I didn’t hear from any of them, but like I say, I only sent out a few letters.

I then sat Writing down for a few years, then in August, 2011, Created My First Writing Blog, “The Written Word“.

“The Written Word” was designed to be a place for me to let my Writing Flow Freely (Kind of like a Writing Journal), as well as a way to help me develop the habit of Writing on a Regular Basis.

I did this by giving myself a Goal of an Average of 800 Words a Day…

Later I created my Multi Artist/Writer/Photographer/Blogger/Journalism Site, “The Dark Globe“, which I later changed to “Legends Undying” (Writer Showcase/Sunday Posting Site).

And between “The Written Word”, and “The Dark Globe”, I Averaged over 1,100 Words a day during my First Year and a Half.

During which time I began my pursuit of Self Publishing, starting with my Poetry Book, “Winter, Lust, And Wonder” (January, 2012), as well as a 8 Page Partial Comic Book of the Beginnings of “White Jade” (January, 2012).

Later that year (Aug/Sept, 2012), I Self Published my First Novella, “I Died Once“.

Both of which I got into a Local Bookstore, as well as being on Amazon.Com.

These Included “Allure“, which is a Vampire Series, that I’m intending to turn into a Series of Novellas, my First in which I hope to Self Publish at the end of this year.

As well as My First Completed Fantasy Novel, “Chess With Agatha“, which I’ve already had Pre-Line Edited, Reviewed, and Edited… But am now working with another Writer, who is Helping me ‘Wordsmith’ it a bit, in order to improve Story Clarity, as well as Story and Character Depth.

I will be Self Publishing this as soon as possible, but it has been a bit delayed due primarily with the fact that I’m trying to up my game a bit in regards to Story and Character Depth.

So without going much further, that’s basically who I am, at least in regards to Writing, and/or Dreaming…

Feel free to ask me any questions about any of this stuff, and Thanks for Listening/Reading

And Thanks for Following “Legends Undying”, we’ve really got some Good/Talented People with us

I just wanted to take a Moment and Wish you all a Happy Saint’s Patrick’s Day from us Here at “Legends Undying”!

For me, Saint Patrick’s Day meant wearing Green to School Growing up, or getting Pinched, Lol

I often just said “My Eyes Are Green”, which didn’t fly… I’d get Pinched anyway.

Then as I got older, it became Corned Beef and Cabbage, which was Awesome.

I know for many, it is a Time For Beer!

But I’ve never been all that much of a Beer Drinker, Lol

What does Wikipedia Say about Saint Patrick’s Day?

Saint Patrick’s Day or the Feast of Saint Patrick (Irish: Lá Fhéile Pádraig, “the Day of the Festival of Patrick”) is a cultural and religious holiday celebrated on 17 March. It is named after Saint Patrick (c. AD 385–461), the most commonly recognised of the patron saints of Ireland.

And another Site I found with an Article Called “A Global Glance At St. Patrick’s Day”

Ireland
First, let’s take a glance at Ireland, the country where it all began. St. Patrick’s Day started as a holy day in Ireland and continues to be a day of respect and meditation among religious households. Family is an important aspect of the celebration. Many people gather for warm, family meals before joining festivals and parades. While Americans feast on corned beef and cabbage, it’s actually much more common to find bacon and roast chicken on Irish tables.

Italy
The city of Florence celebrates St. Patrick’s Day with “Festa Irlandese,” a 10-day celebration of music and food. People gather from all around to feast on Irish dishes like potato soup and smoked salmon.

Denmark
The Danish bring the luck of the Irish to worthwhile charity! Every year, since 2001, a St. Patrick’s Day 3-Legged Charity Races takes place in Copenhagen, raising money for children’s health and education. It’s a day of fun doing a world of good!

Germany
There is a fairly large Irish community in Munich. It isn’t surprising, then, that the city holds one of the largest St. Patrick’s Day parades in all of Europe! The celebration includes a march and an outdoor party featuring dancers and live music.

The West Indies
St. Patrick’s Day is a national holiday on this beautiful, small island. In fact, Montserrat is often called the “Emerald Island of the Caribbean.” Its landscape is reminiscent of coastal Ireland and many of its people have ancestors from Ireland. Consider it a little piece of luck floating an ocean away.

For me, it will be another day of Editing, and a Lakers Game later on… No Corned Beef and Cabbage this year, though if I had thought of it sooner, I might have done that. Though I myself have never made it, it would be a cool Challenge.

To All Those Out There Wearing Green, Well Done!

For All Those Not, Eh

You’d figure someone with the Name James Mahoney Would Be Wayyy Into this Holiday